Zermatt Part One, Switzerland

We drove to Zermatt from Geneva and it took us a little over three hours, with a couple of stops for photos and gas.  Zermatt, like Murren, is a car free town, all visitors must park their cars in Tasch.  There are 2100 covered parking spots in Tasch and an additional 1000 that are offered by private companies and hotels.  A nice train shuttle which runs every 20 minutes took us to Zermatt.  The ride took 12 minutes.   As with everything in Switzerland, the lot,  the train station and the train, are clean, well lit, and organized.

 At the train station in Zermatt there is a board with the names of all the hotels and a phone receiver attached.  When called, the hotel sends a car to pick up the guests and the luggage.

 I booked our hotel a couple of months in advance since Zermatt is a very popular destination and hotels fill up fast.

I chose Coeur des Alpes simply because I liked the design and the reviews were glowing.   We checked into the hotel and were instantly thrilled with the choice.
Coeur des Alpes is a family owned and run hotel and it really feels like one is staying with friends.  They were incredibly friendly and accommodating and the hotel was clean and beautifully designed.  


 The hotel is on a hill but there is an elevator on the street level.

The pool on the lower level can be seen through the glass floor in the main lobby.

 This was our terrace

 
Matterhorn, covered by that awful cloud, as seen from our terrace.

 I got a loft which was so cool we spent the first 10 minutes admiring every detail.

The bed seemed to be floating in the air.  Walking on a glass floor took some getting used to, its a strange feeling especially when waking up in the middle of the night.

There were two bathrooms, one downstairs and one upstairs.

Every detail was well thought out in this hotel.  

 

 We walked around a bit as we headed to the Gornergrat Bahn, the train station.  Zermatt reminded me a lot of Murren but bigger, with more stores and places to eat.  It was also more crowded but not uncomfortably so.  The weather was to be a bit rainy so maybe that deterred some people from coming.  We got very lucky that it really only started to rain heavily as we were leaving Zermatt.

A bit of nourishment before a hike.

Ready for the hike.

Joanna